Sewing-machine feed mechanism



Nov. 20, 1923 HAM-3656 T. J. HAYES SEWING MACHINE FEED MECHANISM Filed May 31 1921 2 Sheets-$heet l Nov. 20,1923.

- T. J. HAYES SEWING MACHINE FEED MECHANISM Filed May 51 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hams Z1522 llllllliW ""ilau mmunumm W 4 FM v.1. m

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LOUIS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T LEVIIS FELLING MA- CHINE COMPANY, OF ST. LC JIS, MISSOURI, A GORPORATIGN OF DELAWARE.

SEWING-MACHINE Application filed May 31,

T 0 all w?) am it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS J. Hares, a citizen of the United States, residing at East St. Louis, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing- Machine Feed Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

It is a long-recognized fact that in the operation of standard high speed sewing machines of the straight-needle type for through and through stitching-machines such as the Singer sewing machine commonly used in tailoring establishments,-the lower ply or layer of goods, being directly engaged by the four Way feed-dog, tends to feed faster than, the superimposed ply or layer that engages the relatively stationary presser-foot; and it is also known that under many conditions the utmost skill of the operator in effort to compensate for this tendency of the one layer to creep with respect to the other layer are ineffectual. Generically, the matter of providing an upper feeddog to Work in conjunction with a usual, lower feed-dog is well known, very many machines having been devised or marketed containing one form or another of overhead feed mechanism, but I believe it to be true that no overhead feed mechanism has been produced'prior to my present invention that is contained in and supported wholly by the presser-foot and is capable of operation in these high speed machines without in any way interfering with speed-capacity or the facility with which they can be operated in any particular; nor, I believe, has such an overhead feed mechanism been heretofore provided that would be applicable to standard-type sewing machines by'niere substitution of a feed-carrying presser-foot for the ordinary presser-foot and a different needlebar clamp for the ordinary needle-bar clamp.

The general objects of my invention are to provide an overhead feed mechanism for the class of machines above stated and characterized by the features above noted; and more specific objects of my invention are to provide combinations of parts for the provision of an overhead feed that will be simple, effective, durable, adapted for high speed op eration and effectively adjustable for the most precise cooperation with the normal or lower feed-dog. To these ends my in vention consists in the combinations and ar- FEED MECHANISM.

1921. Serial No. 474,031.

rangements of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein I have shown for illustrative purposes a single embodiment of my invention in a form which I have found to be eflicacious and desirable.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an upper feed attachment related to ap propriate parts of a Singer sewing machine; Fig. 2 is an elevation from the opposite direction; Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of F 5 with the parts in a position different from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. l is a detail section on line 4.-4 of Fig. 2; F ig. 5 is a front elevation of the attachment; that is to say as seen from the right of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the attachment with the presserfoot bar in section; Fig. 7 is an inverted plan view of the attachment; Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of the lower portion of the presser foot frame, and Fig. 9 is perspective detail of the upper feed dog.

In the drawings head 10, needle-bar 11, needle 12, presser-foot bar 13, work-plate 14c and lower feed-clog 15, the latter being variable as to fore-andaft throw, of its fourway motion, all represent standard sewing machine parts as of a Singer machine. For the ordinary needle-clamp is substituted one as shown at 16 having provision such as stud '17 to cooperate with the forked end 1.8 of an actuator lever 19 for the upper feed mechanism. The entire upper feed mechanism is carried in a presser foot frame, that is to say, in a frame providing a presser foot part and substitutable on the presser-foot bar 13 for the ordinary presser foot of the machine, this presser-foot frame as a whole being in dicated at 20, and the presser-foot proper indicated at 21. Through the presser-foot works the upper feed-dog 22 to which four way feeding motion is to be imparted in accordance with the vibrations of the needlebar-operated actuator 19. Specifically the dog, normally pressed upwardly and forwardly by spring 23, vibrates fore-and-aft with the feed lever 24 and rises and falls under control of the depressor lever 25, both of which are mounted in the presser-foot frame 20 and both of which may be actuated by a cam structure 26 that is operatively connected with the actuator bar 19. As the needle bar rises the actuator, turning the cam structure 26, causes first the depressor lever to force down the upper feed-dog against the tension of its spring 23, and then causes the feed lever 2a to advance (rearwardly across the machine or in the direction of the feed) the depressed feed-dog against the tension of spring 23; down-stroke of the needle reversing the travel of the cam and permitting spring elevation and spring retraction o the upper feed-dog to complete the four-way cycle.

Now specifically to describe the preferred construction illustrated in the drawings, frame '20 is preferably made in two major parts, the head 28 and foot 29' secured together by screws 30, the base portionor foot proper 21 having made therein slots :31 to receive the toothed portions 32 of the feeddog 22 that are separated to work in conjunction with the corresponding feed points of the main dog; 15 .on opposite sides of the needle, there being a wear plate fi preferably mounted upon and between the side portions of the feeddog to receive the thrust of the depressor lever 25. The head portion 28 of the attachment, socketed as at B lto receive the extremity 35 of the presser :foot bar and be retained by screw 36, extends upwardly and rearwardly and nearits upper end has mounted in the boss .37 a headed bearing stud 38 on which are mounted the actuator lever 19, and the controlling cam 26, in arrangement best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The cam 26 has spacing huh projections a0 and er, the latter: affording a bearing for the pivoted end of lever 19,, adjustment between the lever and cam being provided by the arcuate slot 42 in the lever and the wing-screw 43 extending therethrough and tapped into the side of the cam. Of course the actuator 19 has a fixed range of motion, and the adjustment aforesaid between it and the cam is intended to vary the throw of the feed-dog foreand-aft from zero to maximum length. The

T pivotal connection l? with feed cam surface l5 works against the upper portion of the feed lever 24; that is pivoted. on a stud d6 projecting from the frame. the lower end of said lci er having end of the dog 22. Of course when the wing-screw as is adjusted clear to the rear end of its slot 4-2, cam nose 4:5 is not brought into effective contact with :the lever 24 which remains in contact with the concentric surface 45 of the cam as a back-stop.

The depressor lever 25 may best be worked in invariable time-relation to the operation of cam 4L5, and should be. ineffective to depress the feed-dog when the cam h") is thrown to inactive position. To these ends the cam member 26 carries a laterally extending roller-bearing stud 50 that cooperates with the cam-shaped upper extremity of the depressor lever 25, said lever being pivoted on the etude-6 and having a the solid rear extent, causing the forwardly extending nose of the bell crank depressor lever to press down the upper feed dog and then as the roller idles along the suitably curved surface 54:, it holds thedepressor leverdown. When the cam structure 26 is adjusted to inactive position (with the wing screw l3 at the extreme rear end of its slot, Fig.2) the roller of stud 50 never actsupon the cam to depress the lever 25. The ,positiveness of action and range of adjustment of the feeding mechanism of .theattach-ment enables it to be used, on occasion,to work against a solid plate, rather than inconjunction with a main feed dog 15.

Spring 23 may take divers forms suitable to both lift and press forward the feed-dog 22, such spring in the construction shown having an end 56 anchored between the boss 37 and the spring stud 5K and having nearly a right-angle course downward and forward therefrom, preferably with a coil 58 in the angle, to the hook portion .59 that engages a pin 60 on the feed-dog.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in details of construction may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of my invention and that some specific variations may be necessitated by differences in construction of particular sewingmachines to which the invention may be applied.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a sewing machine attachment comprising a frame having presser foot portion and substitutable for a standard presser foot, a four-way movable feed-dog mounted in the. presser foot portion, means for imparting fou-r-way motion to said feed-dog wholly carried by said frame, said means including an actua- I tor constructed and arranged for connection with a needle bar to be vibrated therefrom.

2. The combinatlon with a sew ng machine having a normal presser foot bar, needle bar and four-way lower feed-dog, of a presser foot structure carried by said presser bar and comprising a frame, an upper feed dog mounted in said frame, cam controlled means for imparting four-way motion to .saidupper feed-dog, and actuating means for said cam comprising an actuator lever the presser bar, said frame providing a presser foot portion slotted to receive a feeddog, an upper feed-dog working through said presser foot poriion, and means for imparting four-way feeding movement to said dog, wholly carried by said frame and including an actuator lever operatively connectible with the needle bar. 7

4. A sewing; machine attachment of the character described, comprising a presser foot frame, a feed-dog arranged for fourway motion therein, means including a feedlever for imparting fore-and-aft. motion to said dog; means including a depressor lever for imparting vertical motion to said dog, a cam device controlling said levers jointly, and an actuating lever operatively connectible with said cam device.

5. A sewing machine attachment of the character described, comprising a presser foot frame, a feed-dog arranged for fourway motion therein, means including a feedlever for imparting fore-and-aft motion to said dog; means including a depressor lever V for imparting vertical motion to said dog, a

cam device controlling said levers jointly, and an actuating lever adjustably connectible with said cam device.

6. A sewing machine attachment of the character described comprising a presser frame having a slotted foot portion, an extension in rear of and above said foot portion, a bearing stud in said extension, a cam structure bearing on said stud, an actuator lever operatively connected with said cam structure, a feed-dog arranged to work in the foot-slots, spring means normally tending to elevate said dog and. throw it forwardly, and lever means controlled by said cam for depressing said feed-dog and imparting movement thereto in the direction of the feed.

7. The combination with a. sewing machine having a vertically reciprocable needle bar, a vertical presser bar in rear thereof, a work plate and a lower feed dog operating through the work plate, of a presser foot having a slot-ted foot-proper and having a. frame extension'above and in rear of its point of connection with the presse r bar, an actuator mounted in said. extension and connected with the needle bar to be oscillated vertically by reciprocation of the needle bar, a feed-dog working through the presser foot slots and arranged to receive four-way motion, and means responsive to movements of said actuator and carried by said presser foot frame for imparting four-way movement to said feed-dog.

8. An attachment for a sewing machine of the character described, comprising a frame having a p-resser foot slotted to receive a feed-dog. a feed-dog; arranged to work therethrough, an actuator pivotally carried by said frame and adapted for operative connection with a needle bar, a cam-structure ad justahly connected with said actuator, 21 fe lever and a depressor lever pivoted in said frame, operatively associated with said feel dog and arranged to be vibrated by movement of said cam-structure to impart ing and depressing motion to the feed-do:.-, and a spring mounted in saio frame for re storing said feed-dog to raised retracted p0 sition.

9. A sewing machine attachment of the character described, comprising a presser foot frame, a feed-dog arranged for fourway motion therein, cam-controlled means on said frame for imparting fourway mo" tion to said feed-dog, and actuating means for said cam constructed and arranged for connection with a. needle bar to be vibrated therefrom.

10. A sewing machine attachment of the character described, comprising a presserfoot frame, a feed-dog arranged for fourway motion therein, a spring" tending to raise and retract said dog, a lever for advancing said dog, a lever for depressing said dog, a cam device controlling said levers jointly, and an actuating lever connected with said cam device.

11. A sewing machine attachment of the character described, comprising a presserfoot frame and. mounted on said frame, the combination of a feed-dog arranged for four-way motion, a pivoted feed. lever for imparting four-and-aft motion to said dog, a pivoted depressor lever for imparting ver tical motion to said dog, cam means for actuating said levers, actuating means constructed and arranged for connection with a needle bar to be vibrated therefrom, and ad justably connected with said cam structure to actuate the latter, and spring means constantly tending; to move said feed-dog to raised, retracted position.

12. As an article of manufacture, a sewing machine attachment comprising a frame having a presser-foot portion and substitutable for a. standard prcsser-foot, a four-waymovable feed-dog mounted in said presserfoot portion, means for imparting four-way motion to said feed-dog wholly carried by said frame, and adjustable to vary the feeding-length of the movementof said dog, said means including an actuator constructed and arranged for connection with a necdle bar to he vibrated therefrom.

13. The combination with a sewin; ma chine having a normal presser-foot bar and needle bar, of presser-foot struciiure can ried by said presser-foot bar and comprising a frame. a four-way feed-dog mounted in said frame, cam controlled means for imparting four-way motion to said feed-dog, and actuating means for sa d cam comprising an actuator lever adjustably connected with said cam-controlled means to vary the 7 dog; and connected length of feeding'moveinent of said feedto the needle hm: for vihration therewith.

14. A sewing machine attachment of the character described com nieing a resserfoot frame, a feed-dog; armnsz'ed for tour- Wey motion therein; means inoauding an m tusitor adapted to be connected to a needlebar for positively depressing and advancing 10 the feed-dog and a single wire spring coacting with the feed-dog and having its hut-t supported from the resser-foot ttmine. a middle coil, 21. generally Vertical portion between the butt and the middle coil, ende generally horizontal portion extending from the middle coil and connected to the feeddog, whereby said spring tends both to raise and retract said teed-dog.

THOMAS J. HAYES. 

